\nOn Saturday, while walking the dog, I saw this nice scene in a nearby park. Some teenage boys were playing drums, and the small children from the playground visible in the background immediately congregated around them:
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![\"L1005098\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAlternate 1<\/em> Alternate 2<\/em> Alternate 3<\/em> Alternate 4<\/em> Alternate 5<\/em> Alternate 6<\/em> Alternate 7<\/em> Alternate 8<\/em> Alternate 9<\/em> Alternate 10<\/em> Alternate 11<\/em> The last four images are from my immediate neighbourhood.<\/p>\n Alternate 12<\/em> Alternate 13<\/em> Alternate 14<\/em> Alternate 15<\/em>
\nThe alternates<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
\nThe boys did not consider the little kids a nuisance, as one could expect. On the contrary, they even let them have a go at the drumming:
\n![\"L1005101\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt1.jpg\")
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\nSunday I went for a long walk along the beach promenade, about 5 km or so. It got really hot, so I sat down to have a bottle of water before taking the tram back. While waiting, I was attracted to the shape and colours of the umbrella at my table:
\n![\"L1005131\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt2.jpg\")
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\nYoung people in Spain (at least some of them) have adopted the binge drinking habit from Northern European visitors during the past couple of decades. It is known here as a botell\u00c3\u0192\u00c2\u00b3n<\/em>, meaning that you buy some cheap booze, find a good spot and get smashed. This abandoned bar is evidently used for this purpose:
\n![\"L1005139\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt3.jpg\")
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\nSunday afternoon one of my co-workers, a Lithuanian girl called Egle, invited us for a barbecue. Egle has two delightful daughters, who at this point speak Lithuanian, English and Spanish:
\n![\"L1005150\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt4.jpg\")
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\nMonday was the last day of my sick leave. I decided that I had had enough of sitting at home and that being at the office was not particularly physically challenging. So I used this last day as a continuation of the weekend, starting with a long morning walk. Here is some contre-jour with a mailbox and pretty flowers:
\n![\"L1005151\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt5.jpg\")
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\nMorning delivery to a local butcher shop:
\n![\"L1005152\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt6.jpg\")
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\nThen the big day arrived. Tuesday I went back to the office after a two-week absence, the longest period of sick leave I have ever experienced. It was good to be back, and in the afternoon I stopped at the Puerta del Mar, where I had to change from a bus to a tram anyway, to enjoy a pint of Guinness at O’Hara and watch the human traffic on the Esplanada de Espa\u00c3\u0192\u00c2\u00b1a:
\n![\"L1005178\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt7.jpg\")
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\nClearly, I was not the only one looking at the passing se\u00c3\u0192\u00c2\u00b1oritas:
\n![\"L1005175\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt8.jpg\")
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\nA father and his daughter briefly swap roles:
\n![\"L1005174\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt9.jpg\")
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\nOne man, three doggies:
\n![\"L1005179\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt10.jpg\")
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\nPlatform shoes:
\n![\"L1005181\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt11.jpg\")
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\nMorning coffee:
\n![\"L1005191\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt12.jpg\")
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\nLittle men:
\n![\"L1005196\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt13.jpg\")
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\nCanine social life:
\n![\"L1005213\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt14.jpg\")
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\nThe preceding picture and this one were taken Friday afternoon (in Spain, “afternoon” means until 8-9 p.m.) while enjoying life with my wife at our favourite watering hole, El Sitio. Here are some cool guys with a cute dog:
\n![\"L1005215\"](\"uploads\/2009\/23alt15.jpg\")
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